Rhythm Tengoku!

I just finished Remix 10, with 36 medals and 6 perfects. The last few sets of songs are gonna be killer to gain accomplishments on. Move aside, Love Lab, you've got company: Evening Moai Song.

shdwrlm3 wrote:

No mention of Ouendan, Angela? I'm shocked.

Heh, I forgot about that, but yeah, the title surprised me too. I thought it would've been niftier if they'd use the guys instead of the girls, though. In either case.... playing on our expectations much, Nintendo?

... though there have been a few times when I finished other minigames perfectly, just not during a campaign. Seriously, I wish they'd ditch the campaign thing and just award you a perfect any time you get it.

I do still like the campaign system. There's a keen sense of importance and urgency when they come up, making the feeling of accomplishment that much sweeter once you nail them. Though I'll admit sometimes it's frustrating, since the ratio of games where you need to play perfectly anyway just to earn a medal is much higher - and yeah, you just wish it could've been a perfect campaign to begin with.

A shame, but I'm pleased as hell with the available rip. I too have been listening to it nonstop, 'cept when I'm playing the game, of course. I'm halfway inclined to call it the best VGM soundtrack of the year, just for the sheer variety in style and unbelievable number of catchy, enjoyable songs. I like them all, but I'm particularly infatuated with Idol's "Heartbeat!" (both variations), Shooting, Bluebirds, Love Lab (love the music, hate the stage), Syncro, "Love's Rung Rung Paradise", Remix 1, Remix 3-5, Remix 6-7, Remix 10, Ribbit Ribbit Dance, Lifting Man/Boy, and the Game Select songs. I particularly love the continuity pattern from the first game, too, where they used the staff credits theme (in this case, "That's Paradise") for the new Game Select 2 piece.

I'm wondering how Nintendo is going to be handling the localization of the Japanese-voiced tracks? Will they be keeping the J-pop originals in, doing dubs, or replacing them with completely new tracks? My bet is a dub, since I'd reckon bringing in all-new songs would require some pretty drastic changes to the rhythmic timing of the stages.

Have you seen this video, by the way? I always get a kick seeing artists playing the games for which they've contributed to; remember 175R playing Melody on Ouendan?

I was watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics again, and I just noticed that the drum segment felt like it was straight out of Rhythm Tengoku. Speaking of which, I must've found the Olympics inspirational because I broke through the wall and am now up to 50 medals and 21 perfects. It would've been 24 perfects, but on Karate Ie, Remix 7, and Ping Pong I messed up on the next-to-last notes. Needless to say, I wanted to hurt someone.

Angela wrote:

A shame, but I'm pleased as hell with the available rip.

I wish the in-game jukebox had the option to turn sound effects on or off. Some of the songs lose a bit of their charm without the effects. Sometimes I'll listen to the Moai Song rip and do the "Ooo-ah" thing out loud to compensate.

Have you seen this video, by the way? I always get a kick seeing artists playing the games for which they've contributed to; remember 175R playing Melody on Ouendan?

Speaking of which, I must've found the Olympics inspirational because I broke through the wall and am now up to 50 medals and 21 perfects. It would've been 24 perfects, but on Karate Ie, Remix 7, and Ping Pong I messed up on the next-to-last notes. Needless to say, I wanted to hurt someone.

'Grats on acquiring all the medals! I'm still shy of about three; Evening Moai, Ping Pong 2, and Remix 8 are total banes in my booty right now. For perfects, I'm up to 17.

By the way, it's awesome that there's three separate save files now. I've already started on a second file, since I feel like a bit of a cheater for using the "free pass" option on a few of the stages. I wanna do a completely legit game this time around. :)

I wish the in-game jukebox had the option to turn sound effects on or off. Some of the songs lose a bit of their charm without the effects. Sometimes I'll listen to the Moai Song rip and do the "Ooo-ah" thing out loud to compensate.

You too, eh? I rather fancy "Kamo-ne! Hai!" in Idol myself. Remix 1 in particular sounds rather bare without them and the Chorus Men shouts.

We do have these lovely rips of the sound test available, but one of us should be bold enough to actually play through every game perfectly for a sound-effects/voice specific score. Sounds like a project for me to consider, soon as I can get those three aforementioned booty-bane stages down pat.

Nice find on the tracklisting. At the very least, we can confirm that nearly all the tracks from both games will be evident - though it's always bothered me that Remix 1 and Remix 2 from the original never had their own designated tracks. (I know they're included in Remix 7, but it would be nice to have them in full-length form, the way they're intended.) Also, I don't see mention of Rap Girls, unless it's under the track "Rap Machine"?

(EDIT: A closer inspection of the tracklist shows that Rap Girls is indeed there - right under the Perfect Version of Rap Men, in fact. Survey says: I'm blind.)

I'm still hoping that the music will be remastered and uncompressed for CD. And that they'll include full versions for all the vocals, especially for the original versions of "ドキッ！こういうのが恋なの？" and "Rung Rung Paradise."

The bonus tracks are a bit disappointing, no? I was hoping all of the tracks would be "Perfect Versions" with the sound effects.

I'm still looking into doing my own recording of Gold with the sound effects intact. Now that I'm reasonably comfortable with all the songs, I think I'm confident enough to do it. I'm still three perfects away from a complete game, though: Chorus Men 2, Remix 8, and Remix 10.

Although the DS rhythm game sequel "R" by game company "N" received mixed reviews due to its change of input method from buttons to stylus, it performed so well that "N" has begun developing a Wii version. Staff from this year's Wii music game "W" are reportedly involved.

WTF? Mixed reviews? I admit that I had a hard time adjusting to the controls at first, but once you get the hang of them the game's a joy to play.

I am a bit concerned if the Wii Music staff are indeed working on it. I really hope they don't make it a non-game, as the challenge of perfecting the stages is half the fun.

My sister gave me this for Xmas, so I finally have it. It's hard. Much harder than the first one. But it's just as addicting. I've made it to Stage 4-1 so far, but it's been a war of attrition. I have exactly zero medals and zero perfects. Most stages I just barely beat, and only after many, many attempts. But I like it.

My sister gave me this for Xmas, so I finally have it. It's hard. Much harder than the first one. But it's just as addicting. I've made it to Stage 4-1 so far, but it's been a war of attrition. I have exactly zero medals and zero perfects. Most stages I just barely beat, and only after many, many attempts. But I like it.

Nice. Surprised it took you this long to get the game, actually - but then, I think we were all expecting the domestic version to come out by this year.

I'll be curious to know if you have to "skip" any stages. I had to bypass Love Lab and Remix 8 myself; for the longest I simply could NOT get the timing down.

Nice. Surprised it took you this long to get the game, actually - but then, I think we were all expecting the domestic version to come out by this year.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting it to be pushed back to Q209, and as it got delayed, I became increasingly concerned about what might happen to it during the localization process, so I decided I had better put it on the xmas list.

Angela wrote:

I'll be curious to know if you have to "skip" any stages. I had to bypass Love Lab and Remix 8 myself; for the longest I simply could NOT get the timing down.

I almost had to do that for the lizard love stage, but I found out what I needed to do on NeoGAF, and I haven't had to so far. Has anyone written an acutal FAQ for this game yet? I noticed that GameFAQs has nothing.

Thanks to one of the guys at NeoGAF for this little gem. It's from the Hello! Project 2008 Miracle Sexy Dynamite concert, with Eri~na belting out a live (and lively!) performance of "ドキッ! こういうのが恋なの？" Too fun. ^_^

Boy, I sure wouldn't name a tour "Miracle Sexy Dynamite" when all the girls onstage are like 10 years old...

Well, they're a very small faction of the Hello! Project group. A good bunch range from the older 18-25 age group. From the looks of it, the kids were used as back-up dance performers specifically for "Doki!" (given the playful nature of the song), and Eri~na herself is dubbed as one of the youngest from all the groups.

Very off topic, but I wonder if the same thing that happens to American singers (start off early in such dance groups only to become tabloid fodder later) happens to any Japanese teens too. Cute on stage at 10 and then are making a mess of their lives by 20.

For those who want a peek at the U.S. localization, a short demo is now available on the Nintendo Channel. Seems pretty perfunctory, though hearing some of the grunts in English takes away a bit of the charm. :-)

So, I decided to pick this up today and can I just state how much I hate "Glee Club." Sure, it's only the second game, which makes me feel like this game is going to give me trouble in the end, but it's so addicting. Stage 1 was pretty, with the whole do-re-mi thing, but it definitely through a curve ball when it went dark. I thought it was OVER! So, yeah, it's an addictive game, but I can see myself spending many hours trying to perfect it.

EDIT: So yeah, I've "Superbed" the first four stages and OK'ed the first Remix, but man, Rhythm Rally (the ping pong one) is insane!

Great to hear you enjoying the game. I picked up the domestic version myself today, and already finished all fifty stages with medals -- a product of playing the import months and months on end that I know it like the back of my hand. Believe me, it does takes lots and lots of practice to perfect the game; just look at any one of our progress posts throughout this thread.

They've done a pretty good job with the localization. Most of the Japanese-spoken audio cues have been changed up to English, like in Chorus Men/Glee Club's "Together now!" and Bluebirds' "Peck your beak/Stretch out your neck!" The changes are generally non-offensive, but some lack the quirky punch of the Japanese original. (I really wished they didn't change the Chinese dialog cues in Discipline/Munchy Monk, for instance.) Some of the cues ended up being just a tad too loud for their own good as well, sometimes regrettably overpowering the actual music track, like in Box Show/The Dazzles and Ribbit Ribbit Dance/Frog Hop.

All eight of the vocal songs, which include their subsequent remixes, were re-dubbed. Mine is a matter of opinion, but I thought the weakest one invariably turned out to be my favorite from the original, the Idol/Fan Club "Throbbing!" tracks. The common consensus is that compared to the Japanese original by Eri~na, the lyrics here sound forced and the vocalist lacks enthusiasm. "Love Ooh Ooh Paradise" lost some of its inherent energy too, since the song is now belted out by a solo vocalist, instead of the sextet performance of The Possible. On the other hand, "Young Love Rock 'n' Roll" turned out great, and "Struck By Rain" is a really faithful rendition.

My only other complaint with the vocal tracks is that they've appeared to have gone through some compression during their remastering/re-recording. They sound noticeably more muffled compared to the Japanese original's mastering, a stark difference when compared to the rest of the instrumental-only stage songs. You'll hear this with a good pair of headphones hooked up.

Don't mind me; this is just me casting a critical eye on one of my most favorite games of all-time. It's still absolutely terrific, and everyone who owns a DS owes it to themselves to pick it up. Heaven is the sort of title the system was made for.

the gba game's charm was the simplicity of only having a few buttons. it also made for really tight gameplay, which is vital for a rhythm-action game. the ds version (got the jp release last summer) is just not precise enough with all the flickin and poking. was really disappointed to be honest. also the original one for the gba had this awesome drumming minigame, which could have a been a game on it's own really.

kinda felt the same when warioware moved to the ds and wii... inferior in all ways to the gba originals IMO